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As far as specialisation is concerned, international environmental law has come a long way from its origins in the application of broad principles derived from state sovereignty to environmental issues. Not only has the number of specialised environmental instruments and institutions grown to the point where some commentators have warned of treaty congestion, but sub-specialties have also developed within many of these regimes. This book takes stock of international environmental law and examines its overarching features. It includes chapters surveying the main issue areas: air, water,...

As far as specialisation is concerned, international environmental law has come a long way from its origins in the application of broad principles derived from state sovereignty to environmental issues. Not only has the number of specialised environmental instruments and institutions grown to the point where some commentators have warned of treaty congestion, but sub-specialties have also developed within many of these regimes. This book takes stock of international environmental law and examines its overarching features. It includes chapters surveying the main issue areas: air, water, biological resources, and hazardous materials. The book analyses the field in more conceptual terms, focusing on issues of structure and process rather than on issues of content. Important topics include: legal design, analytical tools, normative development, key concepts, actors and institutions (states, international institutions, non-state actors), and implementation and enforcement. In particular, it discusses some distinctive features of international environmental problems, the state-centric approach to international environmental law, anthropocentrism and environmental protection, and compliance.